If We Want Anyone But Harper, We Need To Act Together

Those who still think about politics in absolute terms have not only forgotten the basic law of the universe – relativity – but every lesson of history in our lifetimes

Take heart. We the people, who see Stephen Harper and the Conservatives as a Canadian tragedy and a world-class blight on global problem-solving, are still more than two-thirds of the population.

Sadly, over the last decade, that hasn’t meant much. But, citizens, this is no time to allow a messed-up electoral system to defeat us again. There are tools and information available like never before about how to avoid vote splitting. By voting together, we can make regime change happen.

We live in a country that is just barely holding on to any measure of economic growth – except in the area of joblessness, which is thriving – on a naturally beautiful planet that is tipping perceptibly toward climate catastrophe and where every day, warfare, injustice and violence are turning more and more of our fellow humans into desperate refugees. We live in precarious times that demand we join together to remove this anti-social Conservative force from power. We need to change both who is in power and how they govern. No matter which leading progressive party wins, after the election we need to see some new tricks from those old dogs.

But let’s start with the who.

We have something in this election that we haven’t had in a long time. We have talent across the board; authentic and progressive leaders are at the helm of three of the four national parties.

The Green party’s Elizabeth May, our one wise woman leader, has been impressing us for years. Election newbies NDP leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal party head Justin Trudeau are each smart, articulate and compelling. That hasn’t happened in a long time.

Of course, Jack Layton, who preceded Mulcair, was a wonderfully gifted politician who so movingly offered the last of his life force to call in NDP voters. He was rewarded by a wave of orange in Quebec, netting the NDP the honour of sitting as Canada’s official Opposition.